, Moses

It is unknown when Moses, an enslaved man, was born, but he first appears in the historical record as the property of Loudoun County planter Burgess Ball. On 4 November 1795, Ball transferred Moses to Stevens Thomson Mason as payment for his mortgage. After Mason’s death on 10 May 1803, Moses was appraised at $140. Moses remained at Raspberry Plain, where he became the property of Stevens T. Mason’s son, Armistead Thomson Mason; Armistead became an executor of his father’s estate upon turning twenty-one years old in 1808. Armistead hired Moses out to John Huff on 1 January 1815 for $66.67. Moses may have died sometime between 1815 and the death of Armistead T. Mason on 6 February 1819, as he does not appear in Armistead’s inventory or will. As Virginians were increasingly selling their enslaved people to traders who, in turn, resold them to cotton planters in the Deep South, it is also possible that Moses may have been sold.

By Tyler Dicembrino